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ROSHI JOAN: News, Teachings, Travels

Roshi is at the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute, where 200 young neuroscientists and social scientists gather to explore the latest research on contemplative practices. She daily leads meditation practice and Sunday moderated a big panel with Matthieu Ricard, Bhikkhu Analayo, Mary Taylor, Richard Freeman, Diego Hangartner, and Peter Wayne on embodied practice. She will present her compassion model and GRACE intervention this week, after co-leading the daylong meditation practice with Sharon Salzberg and Sensei Al Kaszniak. She then goes to San Francisco and contributes to a fundraiser for Brother David Steindl-Rast and the Gratefulness network: http://pathways.gratefulness.org/. On Sunday, she flies home with a few meetings at Upaya, then goes to the Refuge for personal retreat time 'til the weekend with Tsoknyi Rinpoche at Upaya.

News about Trips to Nepal and Japan in 2013: Please note that there are a number of additions to our program and retreat calendar. And for those who plan far in advance, in addition to Roshi's trips to Nepal this year and next, she will be going with Sensei Kaz Tanahashi to Japan in the fall of 2013. Early registration for these trips is advised.

FEATURE ARTICLES

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Employing Not-So-Good Strategy To Get To The Right Strategy: Stephanie G. Lepp

Ancient Buddhists had a word for a concept of "adaptive strategy" that is just as relevant now. Instead of ignoring all but one way forward, we should pragmatically pick from the best of all strategies, whether in politics, economics, or social innovation.

In December of 2008, the U.S. government financed the rescue of General Motors to the tune of almost $55 billion. Conservatives cried "socialism!"—accusing Bush and then Obama of interfering with the creative destruction of capitalism. Both presidents understood they were radically departing from the norm, but decided that the alternative—allowing GM and its suppliers to collapse, millions of jobs to be lost, and credit markets to freeze—would be too damaging to our economy. So, the government intervened temporarily in what was deemed a socialist way. I say temporarily because the government has since stepped out: In 2009, GM emerged from Chapter 11 with an IPO of $20.1 billion, and in mid-February of this year reported an annual profit of $4.7 billion.

Throughout history, humans have created many types of economic systems: not only capitalist and socialist, but also protectionist, barter, and mixed economy. Each system was designed to solve a specific problem, and today, with the benefit of hindsight, we can draw from this diverse portfolio. When free markets fail, for instance, we can temporarily nationalize key industries in order to restore homeostasis. This is not a rigid adherence to capitalism nor a blanket shift to socialism, but an approach of adaptive strategy.

It is this approach that Bush and Obama took with GM. It’s Obama’s "All of the Above" energy strategy, but with a twist: It’s not about using all energy sources in a purely pragmatic way. Some sources are better aligned with our values than others; we prefer renewable sources for environmental and geopolitical reasons. But, we’ll use fossil fuels to the extent that they help us get to renewables, and in turn to energy resilience.

Ancient Buddhists had a word for this concept of adaptive—you might say strategic—strategy: upaya. Upaya literally translates as expedient means, the pragmatic use of various means, always opting for more desirable ones, in order to achieve enlightenment. As with economic crises and energy sources, we use less desirable strategies to get to an end result with more desirable ones. With upaya, a strategy is only as good as its ability to get us to a better one.

Contemplation Is Becoming an Information Technology: Vincent Horn

I was recently at SXSW Interactive—a giant technology conference in Austin, Texas—and sat in on a keynote by the famous technologist and author Ray Kurzweil. Although I’m fairly familiar with Kurzweil’s ideas, h[e] said something new that really got me thinking about the future of contemplation. He pointed out that in 1995 we completed mapping the human genome. “At that point,” he said, “genetics became an information technology.” This mapping was essentially us decoding the complex pattern of how our genome is constructed. The final result was very much like computer code, an informational pattern that we could start to understand at a more fundamental level, and eventually begin to reprogram. In other words, having genetics become an information technology was the first step toward being able to modify and change our biological programming. The ramifications of this are profound!

What I realized, at that moment, is that contemplation is also becoming an information technology. We’re beginning to understand the significance, and diversity, of many of the contemplative systems that have been passed down through human history (many of which had their origins in the axial period). We’re translating them into language and cultural understanding that removes much of the mythical and dogmatic elements. We’re also beginning to get a clearer map of what’s happening in the human body and brain when people do these practices and learn from these systems. Loads of neuroscientific research is pouring out on this topic, in large part thanks to the pioneering efforts of the Mind & Life Institute and their connecting the fields of Buddhist contemplation and science. Science is telling us a lot about our practice, and it’s helping us to decode the contemplative genome.

Buddhist Calm Becomes Big Business: AP

Peace of the action: The calming yogic technique of 'mindfulness' is catching on in big business and even politics

San Francisco, CA (USA) — This has become a daily ritual. In Mr Ryan's world, it's a stretch for people to get this relaxed. He's a member of Congress.

Tim Ryan finds a quiet spot, closes his eyes, clears his mind and tries to tap into the eternal calm.

Increasingly, people in settings beyond the serene yoga studio or contemplative nature path are engaging in the practice of mindfulness, a mental technique that dwells on breathing, attention to areas of the body and periods of silence to concentrate on the present rather than the worries of yesterday and tomorrow.

The technique is drawing tens of thousands to conferences and learning experiences across the nation and world, and studies have shown it to reduce the symptoms of certain diseases and conditions.

Mr Ryan has written a book, "A Mindful Nation," pushing mindfulness as an elixir that can tone down political divisions in Washington, get American schoolchildren learning better, and return the country to an era of richer personal experience.

OSLO — When she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, while under house arrest in Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said Saturday, she realized that the Burmese “were not going to be forgotten.”

When the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded her the prize, she said in her Nobel lecture here on Saturday, 21 years later, it was recognition that “the oppressed and the isolated in Burma were also a part of the world, they were recognizing the oneness of humanity.” But “it did not seem quite real, because in a sense I did not feel myself to be quite real at that time,” she said. “The Nobel Peace Prize opened up a door in my heart.”

Seeing Inside: Joan Halifax

Roshi Joan's photo of herself in a horse's eye

A book of photographs of Roshi's work will be published on her 70th birthday, end of July. As well, there will be an exhibition of her photographs at Axle Gallery, which will be at Upaya on August 1 for the Wednesday dharma talk, at 5:30 pm with Roshi Bernie Glassman, Wes Nisker, and others marking her birthday. Come for the talk and stay for dinner and a celebration. We look forward to seeing you then!

When I was a kid, I got really sick. For two years, I couldn’t see. It was then I discovered I had an inner world, and it was a visual one. Since I was born with two good eyes, I knew the visual experience. Then suddenly, one morning, I felt my way down the hall of our house in Coral Gables, Florida, my hand sliding along the wall, and told my parents that I couldn’t see.

A cascade of physical disabilities followed and after a while disappeared. During the time when I was in bed, recovering from an unidentified virus, another world opened up to me. I began to re-create the outer world inside of me; I began to see inside.

When I got better, my mother and father gave me a Kodak Brownie Box Camera. Just as my interior life had appeared to me when I was sick, here was a little box that would capture what I saw. It could see inside. I was fascinated, and I was hooked. And I began to photograph the world that caught my eye, beginning from the age of six on, and now I am 70.

Today, a collection of nearly a hundred thousand photographs exists, a thread of images that span time and the world. When I was a kid, I photographed my handsome father standing proudly beside his Lincoln Continental. Soon thereafter, I photographed Cologne Cathedral with my Brownie. The haunting black and white image captured a heavy sky hanging ominously over the bombed cathedral. Recent photographs portray the faces of Tibetans, riven with the elements, Burmese elders, incandescent with innocence, and the landscapes of Zen and the Himalayas.

I never cared about or studied f/stops and shutter and film speeds. I only cared about composition and connection. I never took a class in photography, though I had friends who were great photographers, including Robert Frank, Ralph Gibson, Julio Mitchell, and others. I thought Diane Arbus was nothing but courage, and met her several times when I lived in New York. I was a huge fan. I loved the work of Ansel Adams and traveled with his daughter. Dorothea Lange’s photographs always took my breath away, as did the work of Gordon Parks and Eugene Smith. In the 70’s, I stayed in Eliot Porter’s house on occasion in Tesuque, and studied his work. More recently, the photographs of Matthieu Ricard show a view of space and light that is resonant with my Buddhist practice. Yet, though the work of other photographers interested me, I had no interest in emulating anyone. I just did my own thing, privately and joyfully, capturing light, seeing inside

As I lived with the camera, the camera was not only my eyes but also my heart. It captured and held light, light that I was always seeking and finding, light that filled the world, even the world of suffering, when light shines through the darkness.

When I was in my twenties, I discovered meditation. What a surprise! It was not so different than the gift of my childhood blindness. I could, through meditation, see inside. I could also see the world in a different way, a way the camera had taught me. The camera had given me a view, a view that accepted everything into its lens. I had a viewfinder (meditation), and a way to develop the world or action. View, meditation, action are one way that Buddhism is described. It is a summary of the Eight-fold Path of the Buddha. And it was to become my way of life, and the life I have followed and noted through my friend, teacher, and constant companion, the camera.

June 13, 2012 Prajna Mountain Forest Refuge

Upaya Flourishes — Garden Miracle: Emily Baker

This year as we planted Upaya's Three Sisters Garden (corn, beans, squash) in early June, we did so with hard work, care, prayers, and mindfulness — remembering the bounty of last year's garden grown from this arid land. At the end of the summer of 2011, Emily Baker wrote the following article describing the process and what she learned.

In early April, 110 days without precipitation, the residents, Sangha, and guests of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico gather with Wendy Johnson, renowned gardener and lover of the wild and cultivated world, to plant a garden at the gate of our community. It is an act of attention and care in a time when climate change is all too apparent, when drought portends the summer’s extreme forest fires across Southwestern ecosystems. Martin Luther said, “Even if the world were to end tomorrow, today I would plant an apple tree.” We take great hope in this act of blessing for a world gone awry, this act of trust that, in this moment, we can create something beautiful, nourishing, and inspirational.

We begin by locating ourselves in our watershed and in our practice. We stand on this little plot of earth, smelling the first smoke of what will be a harsh season of fire, and we consider the directions, the mountains, drainages, and local cultures. We consider our home and of what we are truly made.

Then we smooth the earth, taking care only to loosen and not turn over delicate desert soil. We construct a fence to deter rabbits, deer, and pocket gophers. We leave rooted many of the volunteer sunflowers and clover cover crop. Our seeds are local to the bioregion and from the plant nursery down the road. In a week, sprouts of Aztec white runner beans, scarlet runner beans, Hopi blue dye sunflowers, Texas Indian moschata squash, Navajo blue corn, quinoa, and amaranth emerge and – as drought and sun are familiar conditions for them– they thrive.

This little garden begs the practice of coming home to our ecosystems, our communities, and our deepest intentions. At the end of the four vows, our Ino chants, “Let me respectfully remind you, time passes swiftly, and opportunity is lost.” Our world is swiftly changing, and our opportunities to mitigate the damage incurred through unskillful means pass by quickly as well. What will it take to awaken for the sake of all beings? For the time being, for today: join hands, plant seed.

By early August, the dry patch of earth at the base of our windmill has been transformed. Our newest garden is literally bursting beyond its bounds: scarlet runner and Aztec white beans engulf the prayer flags hung between fence posts, Navajo blue corn and bright native sunflowers tower twelve feet tall, squashes crawl across the paths and out through the fence, burgundy amaranth sways with the weight of seed. Everything is blooming, tasseling, fruiting. It is a joy to report that the collective efforts of our community in early June have come into flowering abundance. In a drought season like this, it is an honor to witness the resilience and tenacity of these plants as they awaken and thrive. Even in a few months, there is much I have learned about grace.

Zazenkai Weekend, June 22 – 24

This daylong meditation retreat on June 23 provides an opportunity for you to become familiar with zen-meditation and zen-forms. It also gives you the taste of a sesshin (week-long intensive meditation).Click here for info and to register.

The special package for Zazenkai includes dorm housing Friday and Saturday nights and all meals starting with dinner Friday evening through breakfast Sunday — for those who travel to attend or those living close by who want more of a retreat experience.

This silent meditation retreat provides us with the experience of deep periods of uninterrupted meditation. We do sitting and walking meditation throughout the day plus one hour of work practice, have three informal meals, and listen to a dharma talk by the teacher, Shinzan Palma, in the afternoon. A private interview with the teacher also will be available, as well as meditation instruction for those new to practice.

You can either attend just for the day (June 23), or with the special Zazenkai package you can stay at Upaya in dorm housing Friday and Saturday nights as well. With the package, all meals starting with dinner Friday evening through breakfast Sunday are included.

Dogen Symposium, July 12 – 15

Photo of Roshi Shohaku Okamura

During this unique, long weekend, through his passion for poetry, practice, painting, and interpretations,renowned Dogen translator Kazuaki Tanahashi explores being a student of a great master, Dogen, whom he has become in a manner of speaking and writing. Roshi Enkyo O'Hara brings out the best of Dogen and moderates the symposium. Writer Natalie Goldberg gets us to sit, write, walk in the spirit of Dogen. Scholar and Zen teacher Taigen Dan Leighton, who has co-translated many Dogen fascicles with Sensei Kaz, offers his insights into the work of a teacher he has spent much of his life studying. RoshiShohaku Okumura, founder and guiding teacher at Sanshin Zen Community and world-renowned Dogen translator, will join us on Saturday and Sunday. Sensei Irene Kaigetsu Kyojo Bakker brings her wisdom to the symposium. Poet and Zen teacher Sensei Henry Ryu-un Shukman offers his unique perspective on Dogen and koans. For more information or to register, click here.

Update! Pilgrimage to China, September 14 – 28, 2012

Photo of Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi

PILGRIMAGE TO CHINA: In the Footsteps of Zen Master Dogenwith Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi

Price Change! Double occupancy, $3200 per person; Single occupancy, $4000. If there are 10 or more participants: Double occupancy, $3000 per person; single occupancy, $3800. For a full description of the program and to register, click here.

Visiting and Resident Teachers

Photo of Sensei Irene Kaigetsu Kyojo Bakker

Upaya has invited a series of teachers to be with our residents and guest practitioners this year. These teachers will be supporting practice, giving dharma talks, doing interviews, doing service training, and leading seminars; we invite you to meet and practice with these dharma holders.

Ways to be at Upaya: Path of Service, Guest Practitioner, Volunteer

There are many ways to deepen your practice and spend time at Upaya. One way is the Path of Serviceprogram. Upaya is accepting applications for our Path of Service resident program, inviting practitioners to live and serve here from three months to a year or more. For more information and to apply click here or contact: pos@upaya.org

Please visit this web page on our site to learn more about other options for staying at Upaya, including personal retreats, work exchange, and more.